What do you guys think?
They're still scamming you, but they're trying to save face. That won't work on Bitcointalk.
We have thoroughly reviewed your case with our legal team, taking into consideration that you knowingly wagered on a site where it clearly states in the terms and conditions that German users are prohibited and you repeatedly asked in public forums how you can violate these terms and conditions is culpable.
That's BS. You went through their KYC, they knew exactly who and where you are.
The recent gambling legislation set by the Ministerium für Inneres, ländliche Räume, Integration und Gleichstellung with the Gaming Agreement 2021 came into force on July 1st, 2021 in the jurisdiction of Germany. The legislation is in full force since that date.
My German is rusty, so I didn't check those claims. Either way, if they wanted to follow those regulations, they should have implemented it on time.
Following on from this, and being bound by the laws of the relevant authorities, transactions and bets from German users since that date can not be accepted and are not accepted.
"Relevant authorities" sounds like mumbo jumbo. I'd expect a more accurate answer from a legal team.
After carefully checking the transaction and betting history of your betting account after June 30th, you had a balance of 408.33 mBTC at a conversion rate of €29,552.36 per bitcoin. The regulation came into force 1st of July 2021 after which all bets are voided. On July 14th you were paid the amount of 110 mBTC so that makes 298.33 mBTC (8853.82 EUR) outstanding balance to be paid at that period of time. Considering the exchange rate fluctuation, and the current BTC price, the remaining amount of your balance to be paid is 221.17 mBTC (8853.82 EUR). This balance will be paid out in accordance with our terms and conditions in 3 monthly increments to a bitcoin wallet address that you specify.
I have so many questions about this:
Why are they converting Bitcoin to euro and then back to Bitcoin? It's obvious they only use this to lower the total amount, if your Bitcoin deposits weren't instantly converted to euro, this makes absolutely no sense. They could just as well have converted it to carrots and back.
Why do they pay this in 3 monthly increments? Can't they afford to pay at once? Or is that to keep you from taking legal action against them?
And why do they think today's Bitcoin rate is even relevant? Why not the rate at the moment they're actually going to pay you the small part of your total winnings? Have they paid the first "installment" yet?
How did they get those exchange rates?
Bitcoinaverage gives this:
June 30th: €29,351.46
July 1st: €28,449.77
July 14th: €27,598,94
Why do they use the same exchange rate on July 14th as on June 30th?
It's one step in the right direction, but far from a good solution to me. First of all, I think it's still their fault that they kept accepting bets from Germans after July 1st. Especially cause it's not set and stone that all Germans were removed from all gambling websites on that date. In fact, I have not been thrown out of any gambling website. For none of my bookmakers this 1st July regulation was a reason to throw Germans out. Ofcourse every bookmaker is in their right to do so, but they have to inform me at or before that date, not 50 days after and void bets in retrospect. But surely it's not the case that I had to realize I was not allowed to bet anymore in bookmakers.
Secondly, they start counting bitcoin rates and calculating bitcoin to Euros at values of certain dates. This however is completely unfair, because I never intended to exchange bitcoins to Euros and it's not up to them to decide if I should do so. My account in Buff is in Bitcoins, not Euros. My personal plan was and is to keep my bitcoins for the long term because I believe in crypto. It's completely irrelevant how much Euros they were worth at a certain day. I'm 100% sure they would not have given me more bitcoin than I had, if the value would have dropped since June 30th.
After all, their solution would mean Im receiving just 55% of the amount I was owed....which is not acceptable to me.
Oh and btw, their first line that it's "culpable" of me that I "repeatedly" asked in forums how I could violate their terms, is a little bit over the top. First of all, I only asked one time "hey buff, why are Germans actually not allowed?" (other users asked the following questions) and this was not with the intention to violate terms, it was simply out of curiosity and thinking they maybe made a mistake listing Germany as a forbidden country. And after a swift response of them "oh you can actually make an account with crypto, go ahead" I was convinced. Surely not me actively looking how I could violate their terms.
You're absolutely right on all points.